The team will depend heavily on the batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. The two of them in tandem can blow any bowling attack away. The opening partnership will look to guide the batting of the whole team. The middle order is relatively weak. JP Duminy will be the caretaker; if he comes good it will add a boost to the whole line up.

Abhishek Nayar will also look to add some runs to the team. He might just turn out to be the key player for MI, with his bowling as well as his batting. The team, however, will be without the services of the West Indian big hitter Kieron Pollard in the beginning stages of the tournament. The batting will sorely miss his explosive power. The bowling is strong enough to defend a decent score. Zaheer Khan can tear apart any batting lineup and along with him is Lasith Malinga who is great at bowling in the death overs and restricting the opposition. The spin department will be taken care of by Harbhajan Singh.

TEAM RAJASTHAN ROYALS:-

This team will be happy that the tournament is back on Indian soil. They won IPL1 here and will probably look to do so again. Headed by their inspirational captain Shane Warne, the side possesses a lot of promising youngsters. The batting will rely upon the likes of Greame Smith, Damien Martyn and Yusuf Pathan. Although the team is deprived of T20 star Ravindra Jadeja’s presence, the bowling of the Royals looks in good shape. The pace attack has a strong attacking option in Shaun Tait who will look to swing and hit the deck with fearsome pace. The other bowlers are a tad unreliable – Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi will hope to bring some consistency to their performances. Shane Warne will be the spearhead of the team and will look to attack with his crafty spin.

PITCH:-

It will be a flat deck but the bowlers will have a role to play. Win the toss and bat first.